Wonder where all those annoying spam messages come from? Who sends them? Well, you have got some answers here. Panda Security

, a player in antivirus and preventive technologies segment, has stated in its report that India is the world's number two spammer. Surprised? Even we were.

Panda Security has released a report stating that Brazil, India, Korea, Vietnam and U.S. head the list of countries from which most spam was sent during the first two months of the year 2010. With respect to the cities from which spam was being sent, Seoul was first in the list, followed by Hanoi, New Delhi, Bogota, Sao Paulo and Mumbai.

The five million emails analyzed by PandaLabs came from a total of almost one million different IP addresses. This shows that the spam is mostly sent from zombie computers belonging to a botnet. This way, the computers of the infected users themselves are those which send the spam. The cybercrooks have thousands of computers at their disposal, which do the dirty work for them.

Spam is nothing but a business and is used primarily either to distribute malware or sell/advertise all type of products. Therefore, as long as there are users, no matter if they are few, who trust these messages, it's enough to continue betting on it.

The world’s most-used internet browser, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is on a steady decline in India, reveals a study by Irish metrics firm StatCounter. IE, as it’s known, has lost almost 20% market share in India in the past two years, even as Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox make great strides.

According to StatCounter, the percentage of PCs running Internet Explorer in India dropped from close to 70% in 2008 to about 51%, currently . The drop was despite an absence of any regulation by a trade commission , unlike that mandated by European Union on Microsoft, this year.

In Europe, Internet Explorer lost three times more share this month than usual in some European countries since the company was forced to mandate a ballot screen by EU in its Windows 7 operating system.

Worldwide, Internet Explorer’s market share has suddenly started dipping, and rivals Chrome’s and Firefox’s rising, from this month, following the EU regulation. Worldwide IE has a market share of about 55% followed by Firefox’s 31%, Chrome at 7% and Safari at about 4% currently.

According to StatCounter, the percentage of systems running the browser dropped in several countries , since March 1. India does not have any such mandate but still the erosion in market share has been steady. Besides security, the decline is also due to slow connectivity in a country already plagued by slow internet speed. Of the 71 million internet users in India, just 8 million have a broadband connection.

Replying to an ET query a Microsoft spokesperson said, “PC manufacturers and users around the world can install any browser they want on PCs today.” When asked about plans of implementation of a similar browser ballot in India, Microsoft said issues in the Internet Explorer case have already been the subject of extensive legal action in several countries. “Each country has developed their own legal solutions. We are committed to complying with the laws and regulations of other jurisdictions around the world.”

Meanwhile, in developed markets like Germany, Firefox has already beaten IE while in France it has lost close to 6% to Firefox and Google’s Chrome since January, this year.

Rivals Chrome and Opera are upbeat about the change. “We believes believe user choice is important because that’s what stimulates innovation ,” says Vinay Goel, products head, Google India, commenting on the introduction of browser ballot in European market.

Browsers are important to an internet company’s revenues as one can add monetisable websites and applications through it. It acts as a gateway to the internet. Any application installed at a popular gate is bound to generate revenues.

Opera also feels choice is leading to a rise in its market share. “Millions of people are willing to download and try a new browser when offered a choice screen. The key challenge is to make more people aware there are alternatives,” says Sagar Chandna , country manager-India , Opera Software.

Ironically, it was the vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that led to the escalation of the tussle between Google and the Chinese government. According to McAfee, hackers had used the lacunae in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9.0 to launch the Operation Aurora cyber attack, on computers used in Google.

“Being the largest internet browser naturally makes it the target for a large number of cyber criminals, says Abhinav Karnwal, product marketing manager, Trend Micro.

Reliance Communications will offer free local and national calls for 24 hours Sunday, the company said in a statement.

The offer, available to all its new and existing customers using the CDMA, GSM and fixed wireless services, is in celebration of the company reaching the 100-million customer base.

'We are truly humbled by the trust conferred on us by our customers. This is a small gesture to appreciate and express our gratitude to our 100 million customers -- the biggest such offering ever made available anywhere in the world,' said Reliance Communications President Mahesh Prasad.

Earlier this month, the company became the second operator in India and fourth in the world, to service over 100 million customers in a single country.

Bajaj’s latest offering the Pulsar 135LS, has become the 2nd largest bike in the performance segment within 100 days of launch. The Pulsar 150 is the number one brand in the performance segment currently with 26,000unit sales on an average per month.

The all new Pulsar 135LS is selling around 25,000 vehicles every month and has boosted the volumes of the Pulsar family to 60,000 units per month in the domestic market. The bike has helped Bajaj Auto to completely dominate the performance segment.

Mr. S. Sridhar, CEO-2Wh, Bajaj Auto said “Overwhelming appreciation by the college youth has contributed in achieving this landmark for us. This can be attributed to the Pulsar 135’s cutting edge technology combined with great looks and features. The highly encouraging performance of Pulsar 135 LS will surely allow us to reach our goal of selling one million Pulsar vehicles by FY 10-11.”The Pulsar 135LS, where LS stands for Light Sports, retails at (Rs.53,000 ex-showroom Delhi).

Most of us would have our money on the Indian ODI team by now. But what about the T20 squad? After winning the T20 World Cup and beating Australia in Mumbai, the Indian T20 team seams to be out of pace..... They have lost to Australia down under and although they won the T20 international against Sri Lanka, we all know it was only the Pathan brothers who saved the team from a humiliating defeat. And losing the T20 series against New Zealand 2-0 goes to show that the Indian T20 team might just be out of contention for winning the World Cup this time.

But then look at the positive side, Indian T20 team has played maximum T20 cricket in the recent times. The discovery of fresh talents in the IPL has only strengthened the reserve bench. India has no shortage of Big Hitters and inning builders. Undoubtedly, India has serious advantages over other International T20 teams, at least theoretically.

Former West Indies captain Brian Lara lifted the ICC World Twenty20 trophy in Trinidad and then admitted it was tough to pick a victor of 21st June at Lord's. But if he had to choose a likely winner the batting legend said the finalists in the inaugural event in 2007, India and Pakistan, might be the ones to look out for because of their batting strength and an ability to innovate.

The former Indian captain Anil Kumble is quite sure that India will bring home the trophy again. The skipper said, "In my opinion India have the best balanced side. If they play to their potential they will lift the Cup again. It's a fantastic side and all the players in the team showed good form in the IPL. Playing at home England are strong while New Zealand and Australia also look good. It will be a most competitive tournament."

On the other hand, Pakistan's World Cup winning captain Imran Khan hates Twenty20 Cricket and believes that anyone can win the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. "I don't watch Twenty20 cricket because it is just Toolah (chance) cricket. It is not about skills or talent. That is why I think any team can win the World Cup," Imran told reporters at the Karachi Press Club.

Imran, who heads his Tehreek-e-Insaaf party Pakistan said that India may have a role in the isolation of Pakistan in international cricket. That shows the Pakistanis will keep crying always. Why don't they realise their own mistakes.

When the BCCI’s incumbent vice-president Lalit Modi floated the idea of having a domestic cricket league – on the lines of the English Premier League (EPL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) league – way back in 1996, the BCCI was not enthusiastic about the idea as it felt that such a league would run counter to the zonal system of domestic cricket, which includes the Ranji and Duleep trophy matches. For about a decade, it remained an idea whose time had not come.

As destiny would have it, in 2007, Zee Group’s chairman Subhash Chandra decided to do a Kerry Packer in Indian cricket. Kerry Packer, the legendary Aussie media tycoon, who was upset over the Australian Cricket Board’s refusal to accept his AUS$1.5 million bid for the television rights to screen Australian Test matches and Sheffield Shield Cricket on his Nine Network, started a rebel tour named the World Series Cricket in 1977. Taking a leaf out of Packer’s book, Subhash Chandra, whose Zee group alleged discrimination in the allotment of telecasting rights by the BCCI, launched the Indian Cricket League (ICL), a parallel cricket league at the domestic level in India, which kick-started its first season in November 2007 with six teams—Chandigarh Lions, Chennai Superstars, Delhi Jets, Hyderabad Heroes, Kolkata Tigers and Mumbai Champs.

Though the BCCI wouldn’t like to acknowledge it more than anything else, it was Subhash Chandra’s press statement in April 2007 announcing the launching of a rival cricket league that forced the BCCI to move into top gear to translate Lalit Modi’s idea into a billion-dollar league, which the Indian Premier League (IPL) is. The IPL, which was unveiled in September 2007 is, in actual fact, BCCI’s answer to media mogul Subhash Chandra’s ICL.

India should expect more terror attacks like Mumbai from Pakistani terror camps with high body counts and symbolic targets (May be Indian VIP's), a study by a leading US think tank has warned.

"India will continue to face a serious Jihadi threat from Pakistan-based terrorist groups, and neither Indian nor U.S. policy is likely to reduce that threat in the near future," said Angel Rabasa, leading author of the study and a senior political scientist with RAND Corporation, a nonprofit US research organization.

"Other extremist groups in Pakistan likely will find inspiration in the Mumbai attacks, and we can expect more attacks with high body counts and symbolic targets."

The Mumbai terrorist attacks suggest the possibility of a rise of a strategic terrorist culture, the study said. The reason for this can be the failure of Indian Government in building pressure on Pakistan.

The RAND study identifies the operational and tactical features of the attack, evaluates the response of Indian security forces and political leaders, and analyzes the implications for India, Pakistan and the United States.

The 62nd World Newspaper Congress, the 16th World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2009 will take place at the Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC) from 22nd to 25th March 2009. Its a great opportunity for India to prove its worth in the rising world. India is undoubtedly world's biggest democracy, where the press is not only free and fiercely independent - but also undergoing extraordinary growth.

India now ranks internationally as the second largest press market, after China, with almost 99 million copies sold daily - an increase in circulation of 36 % over the past five years. Well over 200 million people read newspapers every day and 19 of the world's top 100 selling titles are to be found in the country.